Dixit Commission disfavours Garsain as capital

After a wait of seven years, the Justice Birendra Dixit (retd) report on suggesting a permanent capital for Uttarakhand was finally tabled at the Budget session today. Parliamentary affairs minister Parkash Pant tabled the report in the House amid sloganeering by Opposition legislators against the government.

The report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, has rejected Garsain as the site for permanent capital. Ever since Uttarakhand came into existence on November 9, 2000, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), an ally of the BJP government, has been demanding that Garsain in Chamoli, located between Kumaon and Garhwal, be made capital. The report comes as a setback to the UKD.

After 10 extensions, the Dixit Commission, set up on January 11, 2001, submitted its report on August 17 last. [more]